Are you ready for Halloween?
- Where's Elliott? Cleaning house!
- Feature Article:
The
Secret to Spotting Favorable Jurors
- Quotations for Trial Lawyers
- Five Minute Skills Review
Please add “TrialTips@TrialTheater.com” to your safelist or address book in your email application, so that you won’t miss any future issues.
Contrary to popular belief, I don't spend all of my time at the beach,
on vacation, or at University of Florida football games. (And besides, the Gators didn't play
last weekend!) Instead, I spent last weekend doing some much needed
housecleaning. It's surprising what you discover while you're cleaning -
just look at the treasures I unearthed:
-
The Millenium
Falcon and vintage Star Wars figures
- A framed photo of me with former UF head coach Steve Spurrier
- My Boy Scout merit badge sash and Eagle Scout memorabilia
- The video from my first performance in a trial advocacy program (Boy,
was I awful!),
and...
- My fencing foil and mask!
I no longer fence, but back in college, it was something I really enjoyed.
And of course, learning how to attack, parry, and riposte was great preparation
for all of the cross-examinations that followed. Who
knew that stabbing people could be both fun and educational?!?
Know What Signs to Look for When Picking a Jury?
If you get the jury panel talking, you'll find some jurors who openly love
your case, and others just as vocal in their opposition. Regardless of which
way they fall, these strongly opinionated jurors will probably never sit on your jury. But what
about the jurors who aren't as obvious? How do you identify those
potential jurors? In today's article, you'll learn the signs to look for.
Let me know what you think!
Best wishes for success in your next trial,

Elliott Wilcox
Editor - Trial Tips Newsletter
ABOUT ELLIOTT: Elliott Wilcox
has served as the lead trial lawyer in over
175 jury trials and more non-jury trials than he can count. He trains hundreds of trial lawyers
every year how to improve their courtroom presentation skills, and his trial advocacy articles are read by thousands of trial lawyers in every
continent around the world except one. (If you know any lawyers in
Antarctica, please send them to
www.TrialTheater.com !)

If you like today's issue, you will
LOVE this courtroom
skills development system. Created specially for trial
lawyers, this one-of-a-kind, step-by-step program reveals almost
every secret I've learned from more than 175 jury trials and
countless non-jury trials.
And it's packaged with over
$750 worth of free bonuses.
You'll have to see what I mean --
get all the
details and claim your special bonuses today!
“The Secret to Spotting Favorable Jurors”
by Elliott Wilcox
Every day, lawyers blatantly lie to potential
jurors during jury selection.
In courtrooms across the country, they repeat the exact same
lie. You've probably heard this lie repeated in open court, and there's a
good chance you've said it yourself. So what is this oft-repeated lie?
“Ladies and gentlemen, we're looking for a fair
and impartial jury.”
Bull. No lawyer in his right
mind wants a “fair and impartial” jury. You want the most biased jurors
possible -- just so long as that bias goes in your favor. You know that if
you can select a jury that's receptive to your
client's case, the battle is half-over. That's why jury selection can be
one of the most important elements of your entire trial.
The two important goals of jury selection are picking jurors who will favor
your client, and eliminating the jurors who will favor your opponent. But how do you identify those two classes of jurors?
As you've heard me say before, it's essential to get the jury panel talking
if you want to discover what attitudes, beliefs, and life experiences they'll
bring into the jury deliberation room.
But sometimes, jurors talk too much.
For example, let's say you're the prosecutor in a DUI case and one of the
potential jurors says, "I hate what you're trying to do here today, and
I'll never agree with you. I LOVE to drink and drive. There's nothing
in the Constitution that restricts my right to travel between the states, is
there? No, of course not! This ain't communist Russia! I can
drive wherever I want to drive, right? The Declaration of Independence
says that I've got the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness, right? Well, drinking makes me happy, so that's a protected
right. I don't care what so called 'evidence' you put
on today, there's no way I would ever vote 'Guilty' in this case."
Even if this is your very first time selecting a jury and you have absolutely
no idea what you're supposed to do, you know that you need to strike
this guy from the jury, right? Now that you've successfully identified him as a definite strike, does that mean you should stop
talking to him? Definitely not!
But do you know why you should keep talking with him?
It's not
because you're trying to learn more about him so you can re-evaluate whether or
not to keep him on the jury. This guy is so bad for your case that you'd
probably be willing to exercise all of your peremptory strikes just to
get rid of him.
The reason you want to keep him talking is so you can turn
him into a “sounding board” and learn who else feels
the same way that he does.
Here's how you'll use this opinionated juror to your benefit. Start by
asking your strongly opinionated friend another question that is designed to keep him
talking. It doesn't need to be a mind bender of a question, just something
open-ended that lets him continue expounding on his previous thoughts. For example:
- “Why do you feel that way?”
- “How long have you felt that way?”
- “How/where did you develop those beliefs?”
If you don't know what to ask, just use simplest follow-up question in the
world: “Why?” It doesn't matter what question you ask, just so long as it's open-ended and gets
him talking. (The best words to use when asking open-ended questions are
“Why?” “How?” “Explain...” or “Tell us...”)
Now here's the secret to spotting favorable jurors. When you ask your sounding board the follow-up question, you're not really listening
to him or looking at him. After all, you don't really care what he says --
he's got less chance of sitting on your jury than O.J.'s chances of asking Det.
Mark Fuhrman to be a character witness at the sentencing hearing. [Yeah, I
had to go there] :)
If you're not focusing your attention on the opinionated juror, where are you looking?

When you ask your follow-up
question, you're not looking
at the talkative juror... |

You're looking for the guy in
the back row who's nodding
his head in agreement |
What you're going to be looking at is how the other jurors respond
to him. Some of your potential jurors might agree with what he's saying,
and others might disagree. As he continues talking, some of these jurors
will express their feelings through their body language. Your job is to
pick up on these non-verbal clues so you can identify which camp the jurors belongs to.
When you ask the follow up question, expand your visual focus. Don't lock in on the
opinionated juror. Look at the
entire jury panel, keeping your antennae raised for any indicators of
agreement or disagreement. Here are some of the clues you'll want to look
for:
- Nodding head
- Shaking head
- Leaning towards (or away from) the talker
- Looking towards (or away from) the talker
- Rolling eyes
- Raising eyebrows
- Furrowing brows
- Making eye contact with you or with opposing counsel
- Sighing
- Looking at watch or at wall clock
- Crossing or folding arms
Once you identify the other potential jurors who agree (or disagree) with
your opinionated juror, you have two options. If you think the other juror agrees,
get him
to voice his opinions. If he speaks long enough, he might say something
that lets you strike him for
cause, too. The two easiest follow-up questions you can ask are, “[NAME],
what do you think about what he said said?” or “[NAME],
how do you feel about what he said?” Either question forces him to
give more than a “Yes/No” response, improving your chances that he'll say
something worth noting.
If you think you've found a juror who will favor your client's case, you'll
want to keep him on your panel. In that situation, you might not want to
ask him anything, and simply make a positive note on your legal pad and hope
your opponent doesn't pick up on the body language. (Keep in mind,
however, that it's always risky to expect your opponent to overlook anything.)
Many trial lawyers think that strongly opinionated jurors, especially those who
vocally disagree with you, are problematic. Nothing could be further from
the truth. These opinionated jurors can serve as a sounding board to help
you identify favorable jurors, and they can also help you ferret out unfavorable
jurors. Keep 'em talking, and your jury selection will dramatically
improve!
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN
YOUR EZINE, WEBSITE, OR BAR ASSOCIATION PUBLICATION?
You can, as long as you include the following blurb with it:
“Elliott Wilcox is the editor of Trial Tips Newsletter. To discover more courtroom presentation skills
and trial advocacy secrets that will help you persuade jurors and win
trials, visit www.TrialTheater.com
and start your free subscription today.
If it’s true that you’re “only as good as your last case,” how good
are you? Have you honed your trial skills
recently? Invest five minutes evaluating your
courtroom skills by answering this question about your last jury selection:
How well did you read
the non-talkative jurors?
If you are receiving this newsletter as a
forward and would like to receive your own copy, please visit
www.TrialTheater.com Your feedback is always welcome and appreciated. Please let us know
how you like our newsletter by sending an email to
TrialTips (at) TrialTheater.com
Web: www.TrialTheater.com
· Email: TrialTips (at) TrialTheater.com
Post Office Box 2493 · Orlando ·
Florida · 32802-2493 · Toll free: (888) 428-6783
© 2008 Trial Theater, LLC - All Rights Reserved